Bipartisan approach unveiled for water resource bill

Jeremy AlfordCapitol Correspondent

Published: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 8:26 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 8:26 p.m.

BATON ROUGE — Federal legislation that could potentially fast-track the local Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project in coming years has been unveiled on Capitol Hill by senators from both sides of the aisle.

The Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, provides money for infrastructure projects nationwide that support everything from dredging and drainage to flood control and ecosystem restoration.

What makes this most recent version of the WRDA bill unique is its co-sponsors: Sens. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, and David Vitter, Louisiana’s junior Republican senator from Metairie.

Boxer is the chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, while Vitter is the ranking Republican member.

For now, the goal is to get the bill through the committee process and on the Senate floor by April, the duo said Wednesday.

If passed, it could send billion of dollars Louisiana’s way. But history indicates there could be challenges for the massive bill, which could lead to the creation of more than 500,000 jobs.

Congress has not passed a WRDA bill since 2007 when former President George W. Bush vetoed the measure and it was subsequently overridden by Congress.

This year’s approach is different, Boxer said, adding, “This bill is a victory for bipartisanship, for jobs and for economic growth.”

Vitter said there will also be a renewed emphasis in making the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more efficient by expediting the processes it relies upon for studying and completing projects.

There is also a provision in the bill that would allow the corps to transfer management of certain projects to state or local governments.

“Our bill will implement some real, necessary reforms to the Corps of Engineers and decrease project delivery time so folks will be better protected from flooding and other projects that will help jump start increased commerce,” Vitter said.

The recommendations could benefit the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project. As planned, it is a system of locks and levees running from Gibson to Lockport meant to protect the Terrebonne-Lafourche region.

The corps has been studying Morganza for more than 20 years, and while it has delivered a Chief’s Report, which is a final review needed for federal money, it was done after a deadline for a previous WRDA bill.

The corps has also missed other deadlines since then, as recently as last fall.

Vitter has inserted language into the WRDA bill that would authorize projects that already have a favorable Chief’s Report from the corps.

Vitter said he also planned to continue putting pressure on the corps to “accelerate completion of the Morganza Chief’s Report” and will seek “contingent authorization if it appears that the corps will miss their yet-again promised deadlines.”

If Vitter and Boxer manage to get the Morganza-friendly provisions all the way to President Barack Obama’s desk, and he signs the act, the project will still have to navigate a backlog of corps construction spending estimated to be as much as $90 billion.

And whatever spending amount would be approved, the federal government will only pick up 65 percent, leaving local sources to fill in the other 35 percent.

The final price tag for Morganza hovers around $13 billion.

For Louisiana, the other main policy thrust in the WRDA bill involves river dredging and related maintenance, primarily using money from the federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

While some environmental groups, along with insurance companies, like the idea of using the WRDA bill to enhance coastal infrastructure and lessen risk, others are approaching the debate with caution.

According to The Hill, a Washington, D.C., newspaper, the National Wildlife Federation has voiced concerns to lawmakers over shortening the corps’ permitting process, as proposed in the bill.

The National Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit advocacy group, wrote in a memo obtained by The Hill that the legislation “contains language that will make it more difficult for communities and federal and state resource agencies to identify risks and to protest projects that will increase their flooding risks, damage the economy or deprive the nation of clean water.”

The WRDA bill would also:

n Give authority to the corps to spend federal construction dollars for a period of 10 years to reconstruct subsiding levees.

n Force the corps to conduct a study and carry out a pilot program to implement bank stabilization projects along navigable waterways.

n Require priority be given to hurricane and storm damage projects in areas with significant flood risk where federal disaster declarations have been made in previous years.

n Encourage the corps to use state and regional mitigation plans for its projects and direct mitigation money to priorities identified locally.

n Allow non-federal entities to contribute money to the corps to extend the service hours of navigation locks.

n Require the secretary of the Army to reevaluate the policy on the management of vegetation on levees to maximize public safety, minimize environmental impacts and take local and regional conditions into account.

Jeremy Alford can be reached at jeremy@jeremyalford.com.

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